Almost one in every two Bhutanese does not own a dwelling. This is as per the 2022 Bhutan Living Standard Survey Report released by the National Statistics Bureau yesterday (1st January). The report also states that 54.2 per cent of Bhutanese live in houses, while 42.1 per cent live in separate apartments and 3.7 per cent in shared houses or apartments.
The survey reveals that more people in rural areas own homes than those in urban areas. 77.3 per cent of total households in rural areas own homes. Whereas in the urban areas, more than two third (68 per cent) of the population live in rented dwellings.
Among the districts, Monggar and Dagana have the highest number of people who own homes with both at 79.1 per cent, followed by Tsirang at 78.7 per cent. And Thimphu has the lowest ownership of dwellings with 12.6 per cent.
The report also reveals that the average monthly house rent in the country is Nu 6,073. The average monthly house rent in urban areas is Nu 6,996 and Nu 3,710 in rural areas. Thimphu was found to have the highest average monthly house rent at around Nu 9,100.
As per the latest Bhutan Living Standard Survey Report, the average monthly household expenditure for the country is over Nu 52,800. It is over Nu 62,400 in urban areas and about Nu 46,000 in rural areas.
And 42 per cent of total households in the country have loans. Among the loans, the bank loan is the most common constituting 35.9 per cent. About 92 per cent of households have savings accounts.
The total number of estimated households in the country is 164,331. Of that, 33 per cent are in urban areas and 67 per cent are in rural. The average household size is 4 for the country, 3.8 in the urban areas and 4.1 in the rural areas. The overall sex ratio is 95 males per 100 females.
The survey also found that the literacy rate among the population aged five and above is 70.2 per cent. The literacy rate is substantially high in urban areas (82.1%) than in rural areas (62.9%).
As per a news release, the Bhutan Living Standard Survey for the year 2022 was conducted in April, May and June of last year. The survey involved more than 13,300 households with almost 53,000 people.
Yeshi Gyaltshen
